AILA Presents Rex Chen with the 2024 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award

WASHINGTON, DC - The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) recognizes Rex Chen with the 2024 Edith Lowenstein Memorial Award for excellence in advancing the practice of immigration law.

Mr. Chen has been an immigration lawyer for almost 20 years and as described by his nominators, “has advanced the overall practice of immigration law by developing cutting-edge legal theories, teaching others in our field advanced litigation strategies, writing practice advisories that help hundreds in our field, and has pushed advocates to take anti-racist actions.”

Mr. Chen is an expert at litigating suppression motions in immigration court and frequently trains others in that area of immigration law. He has also developed advanced immigration court litigation techniques, such as advanced motion practice and demanding document production. He also goes one step further by sharing his theories and research with others in the field, encouraging them to expand their strategies. He has chaired the AILA Litigation Institute, a hands-on litigation skills training, and in 2024, he is a Co-Chair of an AILA committee that will prepare a new online course about federal court litigation.

Mr. Chen is the Immigration Director for Legal Services NYC, the largest civil legal services provider in the country, which helps more than 100,000 low-income New Yorkers annually. His previous positions include Managing Attorney for the Long Island team at Safe Passage Project, Managing Attorney at Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark (NJ), and Adjunct Professor of Clinical Legal Education at St. John’s Law School. He also clerked on the New Jersey Supreme Court.

He is Taiwanese-American and, for several years, used to be on the Board of Directors of the National Immigration Project of the National Lawyers Guild.